I am an Ultra-Conservative, Alpha-Male, True Authentic Leader, Type "C" Personality, who is very active in my community; whether it is donating time, clothes or money for Project Concern or going to Common Council meetings and voicing my opinions. As a blogger, I intend to provide a different viewpoint "The way I see it!" on various world, national and local issues with a few helpful tips & tidbits sprinkled in.

Madison -- MilwaukeeCounty voters would have to sign off on raising the sales tax for a regional transit authority under a measure the Assembly adopted early Wednesday.

Proponents of creating the regional authority have called for increasing the sales tax by up to 0.5% to help pay for buses.They said a referendum wasn’t needed because MilwaukeeCounty voters recommended increasing the sales tax in 2008 for parks, transit and public safety in an advisory referendum.

But Republicans -- joined by a handful for Democrats -- altered the bill early Wednesday to require a binding referendum to be held.

Democrats who control the Legislature have taken a short break while they decide how to proceed with their plan for creating an RTA.Bill authors are hoping to reconsider the vote so they can reject the referendum requirement.

A 0.5% sales tax hike would bring the sales tax in MilwaukeeCounty to 6.1%.

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Global Warming Bill in trouble, but you need to call Jeffrey Plale 1-800-361-5487 and Christine Sinicki 1-888-534-0020 or 608-266-8588 to kill this very bad bill!There is a push to have it approved for Earth Day, and they're pushing HARD

Earlier today, Sen. Jeff Plale, a co-chair of the select committee on the energy bill, told WisPolitics.com that the price of the bill is blocking its passage.But he would not say the legislation is dead.

"The problem with the bill isn't Russ Decker or Jeff Plale.The problem with the bill is it's expensive," said Plale, who was one of four legislators who tried to come up with an energy policy bill that could pass both houses.

Rep. Spencer Black, who is a co-chair of the Assembly select committee, said he believed he had the votes in that house to pass the bill, saying "the problem is unquestionably in the Senate."

Black said Plale would not agree to a meeting of the Senate select committee to vote on the bill.The Assembly committee passed the bill last week on a 6-3 party line vote, and the bill was up for a vote today in that chamber.

Nelson said she and other environmentalists were continuing to “work like hell” for passage of the bill.The Earth Day conference was held at the MononaTerraceConvention Center, two blocks from the Capitol.

The Assembly failed to take up the legislation in an all-night session that began late Tuesday and went into Wednesday morning because Democratic lawmakers still don't have the votes to pass it there, Joint Finance Committee co-chairman Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) said.

The climate change measure could still come up for an Assembly vote Thursday, but Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Wausau) has already signaled he won't let the bill pass his house because of concerns it will raise utility rates.

"Of all the issues out there, that's the closest" in terms of votes, Pocan said.

Assembly Democrats acknowledge privately they're reluctant to take a difficult vote on the Clean Energy Jobs Act - a top priority of Gov. Jim Doyle - if it won't be taken up by their Democratic colleagues in the Senate.

Addressing environmental advocates Tuesday, Doyle sharply criticized opponents of the bill, saying it would help Wisconsin's economy by developing homegrown sources of energy to reduce the money spent on outside sources of fuel such as coal and natural gas.

"I see (opponents) as defending the coal industry and the natural gas industry and the petroleum industry, none of which are creating jobs in Wisconsin," Doyle said.

Representatives held closed-door meetings for hours before taking to the floor at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday with an ambitious, 22-page agenda.But they could not get through it and had to put off votes on bills to give the state superintendent of public instruction more power to fix failing schools and curb emissions that cause global warming and boost the use of renewable energy sources.They also delayed taking up a bill that would allow people to register to vote over the Web and have state officials automatically register them when they get or renew their driver's licenses.

Any votes would come Thursday, the last day of the regular legislative session.

Madison -- Assembly Democrats have put off final debate on regional transit authorities until Thursday.

They have also delayed action on bills to give the state schools superintendent more powers to help failing schools, curb emissions to combat global warming and make changes to elections laws that would allow people to register to vote over the Internet.

Those matters will be taken up Thursday, the last day of the regular legislative session.

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